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Working with Older Youth

Preparing older youth for their transition to independence is a National CASA strategic plan priority. Through initiatives including our Fostering Futures program, we help volunteers better support this population.

We offer the following resources to help child welfare advocates work with older youth in care.

Overcoming Obstacles, Creating Connections: Interview with Anthony Pico, who grew up in the foster care system. Anthony shares ways he developed meaningful connections with adults in his life, and offers advice to CASA volunteers seeking to facilitate connections for the youth they serve.

The thing about stability in my life is that I don’t need you to be there every day, every waking moment, I don’t need you to answer every one of my calls. I just need to know that you will get back to me sometime.

Websites and Publications

Chapin Hall at the University of ChicagoAn independent policy research center whose mission is to build knowledge that improves policies and programs for children and youth, families and their communities.

Foster Care Alumni of AmericaFCAA in a national nonprofit founded and led by alumni of the foster care system. Their mission is to connect youth with the alumni community and to transform foster care policy and practice. Resources offered include Flux training, created by alumni to help youth in care prepare to transition to independent living.

Jim Casey Youth Opportunities InitiativeHelps communities assist older youth in care in making successful transitions to adulthood. Connects youth to the people and resources needed for permanence, education, employment, housing and healthcare as well as supportive community and personal relationships. Their Opportunity Passport trains youth in money matters and matches savings.

National Resource Center for Permanency and Family ConnectionsThe new Kinship/Guardianship web page of the Fostering Connections section of the NRCPFC website provides a variety of resources, organized into the following sections: Promising Practices and Policies from States and Tribes; T/TA & Web Based Resources from NRCs, Children’s Bureau, and the T/TA Network; Resources from Collaborating Organizations; and, Evidence Based Practice, Research and Reports.

Permanence for Young PeopleThis report is intended to guide child welfare professionals in helping young people achieve and maintain permanent family relationships.

Youth and Credit: Protecting the Credit of Youth in Foster CareThis guide provides advice on the best way for caseworkers and other adults to comply with the federal law requiring child welfare agencies to request an annual credit report for youth in foster care starting at age 16 and until they leave the child welfare system—and to help young people resolve any issues that come up in those credit report checks. Provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

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